Pictures of Moons

byFraser CainonFebruary 23, 2010

Here are some pictures of moons, from across the Solar System. You can make any of these images into your computer desktop wallpaper. Just click on an image to enlarge it. Then right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Background”.

Phobos in Detail

Here’s an image of Mars’ moon Phobos, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbit of Phobos is slowly spiraling inward, and astronomers think it will collide with Mars in the next few million years.

Io

Here’s a global view of Jupiter’s moon Io captured by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. Because of the powerful tidal gravitational forces from Jupiter, Io is extremely volcanic, and can blast lava hundreds of kilometers into space.

Mimas Blues

Here’s an image of Saturn’s moon Mimas with Saturn as a backdrop. This photo was taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, currently orbiting around Saturn. Mimas has a huge crater from an asteroid impact that almost destroyed it millions of years ago; this makes it look like the Death Star.

Montage of Neptune and Triton

Here’s a montage of Neptune and Triton captured by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew past the planet in 1989. Voyager 2 was the first and still only spacecraft to ever reach Uranus and Neptune, and have given us the only close up pictures taken of the planets.

Moon Aglow

This is a familiar moon… it’s the Moon, seen from the International Space Station. You can see how the Earth’s tenuous atmosphere transitions from the planet into the blackness of space.